Mar 5, 2019   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

GeckoEngage Launches New Bot Platform to Lighten the Load for HigherEd Admissions' Teams

EDINBURGH, Scotland, March 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- EdTech startup GeckoEngage launched their new bot platform today, aimed at freeing HigherEd Admissions' teams to focus on quality one-to-one dialogue with students.

Geckobots can answer questions, capture inquiries, register students on-to campus tours and more -- all without the need for input from staff members. The customizable bots are channel-agnostic too, meaning a single bot can be trained to handle any inquiry, whether the student reaches out via Facebook Messenger, SMS, WhatsApp, or an institution's live chat system.

Actions: More Than Just Chat

"We've been working with our partner institutions to create an AI-powered offering that works well with the nuances of the HigherEd market," said Matt Lanham, CEO and Founder of GeckoEngage. "Although there's no doubt this is where our partners will save time, we were keen to go beyond just answering students' questions as they visit a university website. Having the bot take specific actions, such as proactively helping thousands of students manage their Open House itineraries or assisting recruiters as they juggle conversations with hundreds of students as they crisscross their territories -- that's where schools can see larger benefits. To get true value from your bots, you need to insert them into existing workflows, not just wait on students stopping-by your website to chat."

Tied to Institution Goals

In an environment of challenging market conditions and greater scrutiny of budgets, another key requirement in all Enrollment departments is the ability to tie marketing efforts to overarching enrollment metrics -- and conversational messaging campaigns are no exception. "We enable our partner schools to show how student conversations are influencing downstream enrollment metrics -- such as applications and yield -- via our integrations with many of the most popular HigherEd CRMs," said Gillian Jones, Sales Manager. "For years, schools have measured direct mail and email campaigns against top-line goals, and now their conversational messaging campaigns can follow suit."

Bots and Humans Working Together

Whilst bots can handle many conversations in their entirety, sometimes a student just wants to speak to a real person. When that time comes, it's vital that the experience works well for both the student and the institution's staff. "Although underlying bot technology is improving rapidly, our partners want to retain the ability to provide a human-touch," said Adrian Binzaru, VP of Product. "AI is capable of handling hundreds of conversation scenarios on it's own. But when Admissions team members are involved in conversations, we need to respect their time. That's why we've spent a long time ensuring that student messages are routed to the correct team-members, and only when that individual can provide insight that adds to the conversation."

Quick snippets:

    --  The bots never sleep, and are designed to provide resource-strapped
        Admissions teams with increased bandwidth to support students in taking
        the first steps on their HigherEd journey.
    --  Anyone can train a GeckoBot -- there's no need to understand computer
        code.
    --  Our bots get smarter over time, learning which answer satisfies a
        student's inquiry most comprehensively.
    --  Our bots are modular, like building blocks. Institutions can create
        super-focused bots to handle use-cases or scenarios.
    --  For more information on our bots, please visit
        https://geckoengage.com/chat

GeckoEngage

Since 2012 GeckoEngage has provided tools for HigherEd Admissions teams around the globe, including those at University of Cambridge, University of St. Andrews, University of California at Irvine and University of Toronto. Our Visit Experience Platform allows institutions to run choreographed, repeatable and customized event playbooks without being constrained by their existing CRM. Chat is our bot-enabled conversational messaging platform, and helps schools communicate with students one-to-one, across multiple channels.

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Brian Anderson
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00441315412296

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SOURCE GeckoEngage